Stitches 'N' Stuff

Sunday, January 26, 2014

Very, Very sad today.I have a huge problem, and no idea how to solve it. I need legal help, and have no idea even how to hire a lawyer. My heart is breaking into a million pieces, the more I try to pick those pieces up and put them back together, the more they break and fall from my hand. I so need a bonified miracle. When will it end, an how far will it go? The more I try to help, the harder life gets. I do not understand how those you are suppose to trust, are the exact ones who take complete advantage of you, and wound you so badly that you almost die from the hurt.Forgive? I must first stop the bleeding.
But the bad decisions of one have the remarkable awful consequences for so many. I know my faith is strong, but the questions just keep coming, and the pain is so great, that tears just can not flow. There is no outlet for the rage of emotions that are running through my heart. WHY?WHY? WHY? I am really trying not to hate, but it is becoming dangerously close to the feeling. Please Lord God help my heart, and help all who are involved with the situation. I ask Dear Lord for your perfect peace and direction. Only you Lord can make things right. Give me a clear path to take Lord, and guide me through this very dark place. Please Dear Lord turn all this pain into joy.

Saturday, January 25, 2014

I love this piece, It was a lot of fun to work on,and it even impressed my husband!

I used several broken jewelry pieces, from a bag I had bought at good-will, some vintage doilies Lots of trim, a dove Christmas ornament, Handmade flowers, and I crochet around the bead trim I used for the hanger. A sample of upholstery fabric plus the image was the inspiration.

Well it is now almost a whole month into the new year, and I have yet to post. So in order not to break a promise I made to myself, I will do my best to post!
I am hoping to get back into selling on etsey, and hopefully getting my own web page up and running.

Here is a little catch pot that I altered. I used some crochet doilies, some peacock eyes, I rescued from a broken Christmas ornament I bought at Wal Mart, some vintage seam binding,and handmade flowers.

Sunday, June 16, 2013

This is the message Dad sent to all of us this week end. My husbands nephew mentions it in the post below. Thank you Dad for sharing your memories.

As we approach Fathers Day, the memories, that I as a father have, are
wonderful. The time that I spent with my children, feed my “memory well” with
happiness. Ice fishing on Canadarago Lake and the St. Lawrence River,
School concerts and events, going off into the woods at camp for an overnight
(remember the big animal that snuck up on us), hiking back into the Jessep River
that was at least 200 miles in and catching all those brook trout, ask Caroline
the best place to find fish worms, going on a number of 200+ miles canoe
trips with my sons, and the time spent RV camping with my daughter after
she became a grandmother. There are many other events that flash through my mind
during the course of the weeks.

Those of you that are raising children and those of you
that are about to have children, or my have some in the future, will have a
great opportunity in your life to establish your own “memory well” by spending
quality time with your children, the quality depends on you. Do it now, as your
children will get too busy with their lives, to be involved with
yours.

This is what my husbands nephew posted on his facebook page this morning. He is about to become a father himself in the near future. His dad, my husbands youngest brother is quite the person also. I admire both of them very much. Hope you enjoy this post!

Fatherhood

I
have been a prolific reader lately. Sometimes in books, more often
online, I find myself trying to absorb as much as I can about
fatherhood. With 9 months notice, I have had more time to prepare for a
deployment than for being a father.

I listen to
podcasts, read, ask my wife questions I should already know the answer
to and embarrass her in group classes by asking about things they just
discussed. Recently, at an online baby shower my mother threw, I even
guessed that our child would be born 9 inches long (for those curious:
that is ridiculously short).

It seems that no
matter how many different ways I am told the same thing, the notion of
being a father, and the responsibilities that come with it, is simply so
overwhelming that I’m not sure I can ever truly be ready.

My favorite book through all of this has been The Expectant Father by Armin A. Brott. Unquestionably, that book has done more to ease my trepidation than any other. I’d like to tell you why…

“Some
day, when you are all alone in a quiet spot, I want you to close your
eyes and let your mind take you back to the many conversations we have
had, both good and bad. There is a lesson in each. Learn from them and
take comfort in them. They were given with love.”

I may have mislead you…that quote isn’t from Armin, It’s from my own father. In a hand-written letter he wrote me on my 18thbirthday
in all capital letters. It is one of my most treasured possesions.
Armin and his book, particularly the “whats going on with you” sections,
are simply the catalyst that sent me back to the box to pull that
letter out.

I like to think I have learned a
few things from all that I have read, but I have learned more from my
own father and the endless love he has shown than anything I have read.

I took my father’s advice…I closed my eyes:

I saw three boys in footy pajamas cuddled up to a tattered copy of The Lorax,
waiting with baited breath for Dad to transform his voice and bring the
characters to life… and then remembered Pixar’s version I saw last year
and couldn’t help but think how wrong they were with their
interpretation!

I saw ride-alongs with my dad
on the job, I remembered the kindness he had in his tone and manner
despite the toughest of situations or aggression from a customer.

I
saw fishing trips that lasted entire summers, fishing off a loaned boat
and hooking my cousin by the ear. I remembered nothing but joy from a
potential horror story turned comedy… because my dad retold the story
with joy every time, never contempt.

I saw my high
school days, and sharing an apartment attached to a farmhouse. I
remembered the day I hurt him by telling him that despite his wishes I
would attend an event because it occurred “on mom’s time.” I remembered
him not fighting me on this… the look of defeat in his eyes…and treasure
the lesson I learned that day: That, while I have the right to make my
own decisions in life, they affect people around me in ways I alone am
responsible for.

I saw heart-to-hearts and cross
country phone calls in the middle of the night because there is only one
man I have always wanted to talk too in the toughest of times.

I
recalled the joy in his voice the first time I called him from
Pakistan… the first, and hopefully the last time in my life where I was
truly disconnected from the world. I remembered the power of a
conversation… not necessarily the content, but the intent of starting
it. I felt sad that I have not done better at using that power.

I
saw a smile… a selfless, supportive and genuine smile that is
perpetually in my mind whenever I think of my dad. There is no
particular image I have. His hair, his face and body have changed
through the years, but his smile persists. He did it so often that it is
burned in my memory.

I feel better…. I feel ready.
Not because I know the benefits of breast milk over formula; not because
we have researched and chosen cloth diapers; not because I know the 5
S’s of soothing a crying baby; not because I know to burp a baby on my
arm like a football, not over my shoulder; but because I was blessed to
have the father I did who taught me things a book never could:

1: Read to your children… but don’t read the words… bring the book to life

2: Be kind to everyone despite the situation… your children are always watching

3: When bad things happen, find a positive part about it, tell THAT story often

4: Think about the things that you say, just because you can doesn’t mean you should

5: Call, write, talk… no matter the distance or time in between, each contact is special

6: Smile… a lot

My
grandfather wrote us all the other day. He recalled his most treasured
moments as a father and phrased it his “memory bank.” He encouraged us
all to foster these memories of our own.

I
realized I come from a line of amazing fathers that emulate every day
the 6 things I have learned. I hope they capture the essence of
fatherhood, because they are ingrained deep inside of me… if my child is
half as content with their memory bank as I am with mine, then I think I
will have succeeded at this thing called fatherhood.

Happy
father’s day to all the dads creating memories and teaching their
children things they won’t know they learned until they close their eyes
in a quiet place. Especially mine!

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

I am sad of heart today. I opened my facebook page, and was assaulted by the profile picture many of my acquaintances decided to use in support of their feelings for equal rights. I am a Christian. I have been "born again" for just over 40 years now. It is my understanding, that Jesus died for every single human that draws breath. It is His absolute free gift to all of us. Mending the rift that the very first man tore in the relationship God had planned for his creation.. The second relationship God planned was Man and Wife. God said it was not good for man to be alone. So from His created man, who he made in His own image, God took a rib, and created Woman. That is the most beautiful thing I have ever read.
I did a study with a book I was given on "the Son of Solomon". It was a really deep study, and there are so many beautiful, wonderful things about relationship,between husband and wife, and husband and God, and wife and God, and then husband and wife and God. Like The perfect plan of God. ' Intimacy " sex, if you will, is God's very perfect plan for a Husband and wife together to experience God. How perfect, how Holy,how beautiful.
There is one who hates God. He is a jealous figure, he is angry, very very angry, and he loves to hide and lay traps for us. He also was beloved of God., For God created him to be beautiful and wonderful, God gave him everything, but he was not happy he felt he was entitled to more, he wanted to be god himself, so he left the presence of God, and came to Earth. So now he prawls around seeking out those he can devour.
He has taken something so pure, so beautiful and so Holy, and made it into something ugly, and twisted, vile and disgusting. Homosexuality is only one of the tricks he is doing. To God it is an ultimate act of evil. Evil has been explained to me as rebellion against God.
I did some research this morning trying to look up the scripture that explains what homosexuality is to God. There are so many ways people have interpreted scripture for their own purposes. It is so very sad. God gave us His word His laws, to protect us.We turn and re write it to suit our own intentions and our own selfish desires. We need to pray. We need to pray for Gods protection. The dark is getting darker and the light is getting brighter. Those who would are calling good evil and evil good. God tells us to love Him with all our hearts, and our neighbor as ourselves. Some of our neighbors have bought the enemies lies, pray for them, love them. Let the Holy Ghost witness to them so, they can be saved from the devourer of our souls.

It is beginning to be as in the days of Noah
The third relationship God has is for redemption for all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God. This is why He sent His Son to die for us. He knew us, and planned for this redemption even before He created us, He just did not inform Satan........ Praise The Lord!

Sunday, June 3, 2012

This is our new grand-daughter Lacie Grace. She was born in April and only weighed just over three lbs. She spent the first three weeks of her life in the NICU. She is so precious and we are so thankful that she is doing well. It was a rough go of it for a bit, but everything is well now.

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Back in August, between the two big weather events here in upstate NY, there appeared on our back porch this teeny tiny ball of black and white fur. She was hiding in a corner, out of our reach., and she mewed all day long. "Great!" I said to myself, "just what I need, is another cat!" We just had to put our beloved yellow Lab to sleep, and we were not to keen on getting any more pets. We called the SPCA and were told we had to get her to come to us, before they would "take"her. Well you know how those things go.....you open up the door(heart) just a little, and they move right on in!

So A week before Valentine's Day I began hearing another cat out side, so we figured it was time to get Little one fixed, before we ended up with a whole herd of cats. So an appointment was made, and down to the vets she went. We tried really hard not to name her, because we so did not want to keep her. We were calling her the Litttle One as opposed to the big one

Her visit to the Vet proved to be traumatic.....for me! Little one is the smartest kitty I have ever had! She is very, very cleaver and causes a whole lot of mischief! She had the "glue licked off of herself and her incision opened up the very next day, so it was another trip down to the vet. They re glued her shut and put a collar on her and told me to keep her confined to her carrier. joy.

She was out of her collar before I even got her home. I kept her in the carrier long enough for her to realize a routine in getting her back into the thing, after she ate and took care of herself. but she opened herself back up again. I had, had it with this vet that did the operation, so, I took her to our long time vet this time. She was cleaned up and examined, given a big shot of antibiotics, powdered, and sent back home. She (our regular vet) said she should be confined, but the carrier was a bit to small, and the bathroom would be the better place for her. I was assured that she was healing, and to redo the surgery to fix her would be to much for poor kitty. She will have a permanent dimple on her tummy.

She is all better now, and going about her usual antics, not that the surgery slowed her down any.

I woke up to this mess after I was told she could have a bit more freedom. She got into a cabinet and hauled three new rolls of toilet paper out and shredded them, because one just was not enough! As I said, she is a very cleaver kitty. I think she has adhd. I had to rubberband the handles on the cabinet to keep her out of it! I also have to hide my medicine bottles, because she picks them up and runs off with them and I have a hard time finding them in the morning when I have to take them. She is such a rascal!
So now Little One has a place to call home, because after all this, how can I even think about giving her away?
I think I learned a lesson, just not sure yet what it is!LOL We tried to save a few dollars by taking her to a clinic that was offering a reduced price for" fixing" your kitty. Be alarmed when this is taking place on Valentines day, when you are told to drop kitty off before 8 in the morning,( because they were expecting a lot of kitties), when you walk back in to retrieve said kitty and there a carriers on top of carriers on top of carriers packed so tightly in the waiting area there is no room to move, and the smell, the smell is so unbelievable you can't stand it, and those duck crossing signs, they have placed above the counter, they are for real, because that duck, that duck is going to cross! It was reported that they did over one hundred and thirty cats that day! Valentines Day will never be the same for me again........

Sunday, March 11, 2012

This week I had the pleasure of babysitting my little granddaughter. She is such a sweetie. Mom was not gone for that long, so she did not have much of a chance to miss her. Mom is expecting #3 and had to visit the doctors. This sweet little enjoyed watching Sesame Street, and playing with her big brothers Leapster. She thought she was getting away with something, because big brother was at school.

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

I know, I say this all the time, wonder if I will ever change? The last six months have been very difficult, and it has been hard to sit down here and post something.
I did manage to get this swap item done. It of course was very late in getting out, but I did complete it, so that was a real miracle!

The swap was hosted my Amy Powers of Inspireco. she is such a wonderful person. We were to take a Tim Holts' compartment shadow box and decorate for our partner with their colors and likes. Haven't heard whether my partner liked it or not. What are ya gonna do? I was late in getting it to her. This took me forever to make, but when I was able to work on it, it was a lot of fun.
The theme for the swap was Happy Birthday. My partner loves jewel tone colors, her favorite color is blue, she loves fairies, gypsies, and dragons.
My husband took the pictures for me, and I discovered after I mailed the box, that he never took a picture of the birthday cake centerpiece square. Boo-hoo, you can see some od it in the pictures but I have no up close one of it.
I had a lot of fun "shopping" for this piece. Going through my boxes and drawers of stuff, and then going to my favorite places to hunt for things. It took forever to find the dragon, which was found way down on the bottom shelf, hidden behind some stuff in the local Goodwill store. I brought it home and glittered it up. I was going to make a soft sculpted one, but I think my partner would never had received it If I went ahead and made that! I was so pleased that I found it when I did! Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Monday, October 10, 2011

I declare that God has a purpose for my life. I receive wisdom and revelation over the hope of my calling. I declare that every strategy of hell that has interrupted God's plan for my life will be exposed. I declare that every hindrance that has stopped me from progressing will be reveled and I will advance in God's plan for my life, I declare my faith will be stirred, and I declare new strength will come into my spirit, and I declare that the wilderness will blossom an God's glory will be seen in my life! I declare that the best is yet ahead.
This is what I want to say today.

Monday, May 30, 2011

Today is the day when old men and young men(and women) walk together in memory of time served for our country, whether it be in peace time or when at war. They are honored for giving themselves so we can be free. They are humble men, all of them would say they would do it again, and are blessed with thanks from all of us, but their common response would be,"just doing my job." As they pass by today, know they are lifting up more than just a flag, it is you and I they carry, so we can be free to be.... and here we can list a multiple things we can be free of, so I take a moment and list them and give my thanks for those who served. May God bless you and keep you.

This is my son. He is now serving in the Army. He saw two tours in Iraq. Saw way to much evil, but did his job. He is now wounded in body, mind and spirit, yet he says he would do it all again. Such humble sacrifice, such honor among men. I pray his little one,( who is in protesting in his arms) will grow up in peace.
He has earned a purple heart, and will soon be released from the army. I pray for him, that all his dreams will be fulfilled, in-spite of his injury. It is so hard for me to see him broken, I hope that he will heal.

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Well here are some pictures of my little fabric collage. I am not sure how I feel about it.....now, that is. I was fairly happy with it when I cut the thread on the last little detail, but then, I showed it to my daughter, and did not get a response, except, she asked what the theme of the swap was. When I showed it to my husband, he said it was to busy and did not look like my normal work. So,.... OK..., now I am a little afraid to mail it off to my swap partner. What would you do?

She is here! My son and his wife had their little girl on January 25th. I am so late in posting anything about her.

Lillian Grace Marie

We are so pleased to have # four grandchild join our family. She is a little cutie, and we can not wait to kiss her little cheeks! They live in Germany at the moment, and will be stateside again in June.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

It has been a while since I posted. A lot going on in my mind, and then again nothing. Does that make sense?
I have this embroidery job that I just can not get into, and it is keeping me from moving on to other things. I hate that when it happens, maybe it can be compared to writers' block??? The drive to get the job done has just not come. But alas, the customer called, and I am just about out of procrastination time. I HAVE TO get the job done this week. So, it is going to be a long week.......
In other news. Christmas has finally gone. All that hard work is out of the way, including the ugly slippers that were suppose to go with the ugly wolf pants. Boy were they a trial and a half to make! But they are done. I call jobs like these my lead balloons. They weigh me down , and do not make me very happy. I have to do them, because my business requires it. Sometimes ya just can not say no.

January 11 was a very sad day for me. I had to take my beloved kitten to the vets, and he did not come back home with me. Werthers was a good friend but he began to suffer to much with ailments, and it was best to say good-bye than prolong the inevitable. I miss his dear sweet little presence in my life.
Good bye my little friend and thanks for all your "help"

January 15th was the wonderful wedding day of my husbands lovely niece. What a special young women she is. the wedding was just beautiful, and set in the most perfect setting. It was a very lovely day! Congratulations Becky and Jake!